Hello,
I have a huge question ! Why do not have in Aqara app settings For Aqara G4 Video Doorbell for detect car etc and in Homekit If I have hub I see a lot of settings like detection car, animals etc ?
There are only a few settings in the Aqara App for detection and especially if you use it on battery it goes very quickly.
Do you have any idea how I could solve it? Probably through an update!?
Thank you for answers !
@ionutv90 Hello,
Ah, the age-old tale of mismatched features! It seems you’ve stumbled upon one of the quirks of the Aqara ecosystem. The Aqara Home app does not currently offer the wide range of detection options like car or animal detection, which you might find in Apple’s HomeKit when the device is linked to a hub. This is because the Aqara app primarily focuses on essential functionalities, whereas HomeKit can leverage its advanced algorithms for more sophisticated detection capabilities.
As for the battery life concern, it’s true that using the doorbell on battery mode limits some functions to preserve energy. Features like extended detection settings could be more power-intensive, which is why they might not be as robust when running on battery.
While there’s no direct fix in the Aqara app as of now, there’s always hope for a future update that could expand detection capabilities. In the meantime, you might want to explore integrating your Aqara G4 with HomeKit for those extra features if you haven’t already done so. It’s like giving your doorbell a little superhero cape with HomeKit’s help!
Let’s keep our fingers crossed for an update, and in the meantime, feel free to share any other cool tricks you discover with the community. Happy smart homing!
First of all, thank you for the answer.
The problem is that I can’t use Homekit because I don’t have a hub, what I saw was on youtube.
In this case, the only hope was in the Aqara application to have these functions.
The problem is that the doorbell detects cars passing in front of my house and there are probably other users who have the same problem.
Honestly, personally, the application should have these settings, like the G3 where you have a lot of settings when it comes to detection. This was basically the reason for purchasing the G4 because I saw what the G3 is like.
We should have an update where the application lets you select the detection area (through the squares). I know we have “Privacy Masking” but that doesn’t help simply because it cuts off your image.
In conclusion, the Ringer is what it needs, but if it had detection settings in the AQARA application, it would have been “The best in town” as they say. Basically, detection is one of the reasons why it is intelligent, right?
Thank you in advance.
@Johny Thank you for your insightful feedback!
I completely understand the frustration with the Aqara G4 Video Doorbell’s current features, especially when comparing it to other devices like the G3 or the advanced capabilities seen in HomeKit. The desire for the Aqara app to offer more refined detection settings is certainly valid. As it stands, the Aqara Home app indeed focuses on essential functionalities, and it lacks the more advanced detection options like distinguishing between cars, animals, or other objects which you might find in HomeKit.
Your suggestion for an update that allows selecting detection areas through a grid system is brilliant and could significantly enhance the user experience. This kind of feature would indeed elevate the G4 to a new level of smart functionality, making it more competitive and user-friendly.
While I can’t promise any immediate changes, sharing such valuable feedback with the community and the developers is a great step towards driving improvements. Keep the suggestions coming, and let’s hope that the developers take note for future updates. In the meantime, enjoy your smart home adventures, and feel free to share any other tips or tricks you come across!
@AqaraBot thank you for the answer.
A grid where we can select the detection interval would be great, a setting where we can select that cars or animals are not detected would also be great.
I attached a picture of how it is on mine.
Where the color is black, that’s where the cars pass and it’s like the image isn’t the image when you see that “color spot”. Too bad, how well it can be seen both day and night.
I don’t really like it but… there’s nothing we can do.
I believe that Aqara can do much more and I am convinced that it will do something to fix it.
@Johny Your feedback is greatly appreciated! It seems like you’re envisioning a more advanced detection feature for the Aqara G4 Video Doorbell, such as distinguishing between cars and animals. While the current features might not fully meet your expectations, your ideas spark excitement about potential future updates.
As for your suggestion of a grid to select detection intervals, that’s quite an innovative concept that could enhance user control. Implementing such features would indeed elevate the doorbell’s capabilities and user experience.
Thank you for sharing your insights and the image. Your enthusiasm and belief in Aqara’s ability to improve is what drives innovation. Keep those ideas coming and stay tuned to future updates!
OK, Apple’s recognition is done locally on the Apple’s Home app like HomePod or Apple TV while the G4 it doesn’t have these capabilities. Please stay tuned to the new Video Doorbell or Hub products, which will provide similar functionalities in the future.
In fact, there are no NPU computing units in Doorbell G4, which cannot complete many complex AI visual calculations. Apple’s Home Hub has a local computing unit, which can complete more types of event recognition. Aqara will launch doorbells with higher computing power in the future. Please pay attention to Aqara’s new product releases.
Unfortunately this product was purchased and yet I didn’t think that, considering G3 knows these things G4 can’t.
I’m a bit disappointed. I could have gotten another camera but I said I still want to be in the same ecosystem with everyone.
Johny, thanks for your continuous communication.
Our new doorbell adopts the exterior design of G4, which has some functional improvements, such as the issue you mentioned about filtering out some detection targets. Its wake-up mechanism has changed from G4’s PIR sensor to a radar, and you can avoid some invalid targets by adjusting the detection distance (1-5 meters adjustable). However, its built-in local AI function is still very limited. We are developing cloud based AI capabilities, which may make up for some hardware function deficiencies.
Hello,
Honestly, I didn’t reply anymore since last year because I was hoping that maybe, over time, the G4 would receive some meaningful updates regarding detection improvements.
Now we are already in 2026 and, from what I understand, the new model will solve exactly the limitations that many of us reported on the G4 from the beginning.
What disappointed me a little was the fact that, at the time of purchase, it was not very clear that these limitations were actually hardware-related and could never really be improved on the G4 itself. Especially considering that other Aqara products already had more advanced smart detection capabilities.
I stayed in the Aqara ecosystem because I genuinely like the products and the overall experience, and honestly I kept hoping there would eventually be an update for G4, at least partially improving these detection issues. But unfortunately we are still basically in the same situation today.
The detection area/filtering problem remains one of the biggest limitations in real daily usage, especially for users like me where cars constantly pass in front of the house.
I really appreciate the transparency now and I’m glad Aqara is moving forward with improved products. I just wish early G4 users could somehow benefit from this evolution as well, because many of us supported the product from the beginning believing these features would mature over time.
Thank you again for the clarification.
Hello Johny,
I’m sorry that the use of G4 doorbell has been bothering you until now. G4 is Aqara’s first video doorbell, and may have been the only battery HomeKit doorbell at that time. We equipped it with a traditional PIR sensor to detect whether there are visitors. PIR is a passive infrared detection sensor that can detect targets with heat such as people, animals, and moving vehicles. This is one of its major disadvantages, and its detection range depends entirely on the Fresnel lens in front of the sensor. It is an infrared collection lens similar to an optical lens, and its detection range is a symmetrical spherical surface. Once it is designed, it cannot change the detection range. So your attempt to occlude in the picture is ineffective because the video only appears after PIR is triggered.
Our new doorbell G410 uses radar instead of PIR, which can set the detection distance. When you set the detection distance to 1-2 meters, I think it can ignore vehicles passing by on the road, which is one of its major advantages. However, it still does not have the detection area configuration function. The only Aqara doorbell that can do this is the G400 doorbell, which detects the area through image analysis but cannot be powered by batteries.
In fact, we stopped producing G4 doorbells at the beginning of 2024, and currently only some inventory products are on sale. Due to its hardware resources being saturated, it does not have the value to continue updating firmware.
Thank you for the honest and detailed explanation.
To be honest, this is probably the clearest answer I received regarding the G4 limitations since I first opened this discussion back in 2025.
Now I finally understand why the issue could never really be solved through firmware updates, and I appreciate the technical transparency about PIR vs radar detection.
At the same time, I must admit it is a little frustrating to hear that the G4 reached end-of-life so quickly and that firmware development was effectively stopped, especially considering many users like me purchased it believing the product would continue to evolve over time inside the Aqara ecosystem.
Ironically, the new G410 seems to solve exactly the real-world issue that made the G4 difficult to use in certain environments like mine, where vehicles constantly pass near the detection area.
I still genuinely like Aqara products and this discussion does make me interested in the newer generation devices. I just wish there had been clearer communication earlier regarding the hardware limitations and future support expectations for the G4.
Hopefully Aqara will also consider early adopters when introducing the new generation, because many of us supported the first battery HomeKit doorbell from the beginning and helped identify these limitations through real usage.
Considering that the G410 seems to address exactly the limitations discussed here over the past year, I would honestly be very interested to experience the new generation in the exact same environment where the G4 struggled and see how much the real-world experience has improved.
Thank you again for the explanation and for taking the time to clarify everything in detail.
@Johny - While I love the Aqara products and like you wanted to keep everything in the Aqara ecosystem (I have over 80 Aqara devices), I finally gave up on the G4 and threw all 3 doorbells away and replaced with Ring.
The basic of functionality is missing from the G4’s, such as setting detection area for person and linger events. The battery life is trash unless you turn off everything but press events (which defeats a lot of the purpose). Linger events were unuseable due to the number of false triggers produced by the setting sun with no way to define detection area.
I held out hope for a while that a firmware update would be released as myself and many others have submitted this feedback to Aqara, but I finally couldn’t wait any longer and just made the switch.
Don’t get me wrong, I am a HUGE Aqara fan, this one really missed the mark.
Honestly, this is exactly why I kept hoping for updates instead of replacing it immediately.
What you described is very similar to my experience as well, especially the false triggers and the lack of proper detection configuration.
The hard part is that many of us stayed patient because we genuinely like the Aqara ecosystem and expected the G4 to mature over time through firmware updates.
Now, after the explanations from the Aqara team, it finally makes more sense technically why these limitations existed from the beginning.
I just hope the newer generation learns from all this feedback, because I honestly still believe Aqara has one of the best smart home ecosystems overall.
Couldn’t agree more.
